Ship&#39;s anchor



Dec. 6, 1949 FEARN 2,490,423

SHIPS ANCHOR Filed Nov. 19, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 6, 1949 P. E.FEARN I 2,490,423

SHIPS ANCHOR Filed NOV. 19, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 6, 1949UNITED rs N T 2,490,423 SHIPS ANCHOR Pafirit'neam, Mobile, Ala.Application November 19,1946, Serial No.-7-10,818

3 claims. (01. 114-208) I This invention relatesgto ships anchoraand isa continuation-in-part of my previously f led application, Serial No,613,872, filedAugust -31, 1945, and now abandoned.

The object of this invention is to provide a ships anchor which, due toits peculiar construction, is capable of great holding power coupledwith extreme lightness-in weight.

A further object of the invention is toprovide such an anchor which hasbut a single holding member, yet will come to rest upon one; side or theother and is capable of holding with equal power regardless of the sidewhich is down.

Another object of the inventionis to provide such an anchor which isprovided with-means to force its holding memberinto the-bottom, thisaction being continued after purchase-is first made giving the anchor atendency "to increase its purchase.

The inventioniurther contemplates an anchor;

in which the holding member is of such shape that the further theholdingmember penetrates into the bottom, the greater the area presentedto withstand pressure, which'willinaterially decrease the possibility ofpull-outs.

In addition to lightness of weight and ease of handling, the inventionprovides an anchor :which .will lie relatively fiat on the deckormay'bemore conveniently stowed.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from thefollowing'de's'cription taken in the lightof-the drawings whiohaccompanyand -form part of this specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an end view of an anchor embodying the principles of thepresent invention, the anchor being shown partially embedded in a bottomto illustrate its manner of holding;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the anchor;

Figure 3 is an end view of the lower portion of the anchor;

Figure 4 is an end view similar to Figure 1 but showing a modified formof anchor;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the anchor shown in Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a vertical section through the lower portion of the modifiedform of anchor.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and first adverting to that form ofthe invention shown in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive, the anchor consists ofan open-frame shank I and a holding member 2, the shank and holdingmember being secured together by means of a hinge connection 3.

The shank I is formed from a metal rod, bent at its center to form aneye 4 with the arms points of the'holdin'g member may pass" 2 5 and 6 ofthe rod diverging irom the eye-dbwnward toa point near their ends. Thelower .por-

tionsof the arms are bent to converge, and have their lower extremitiesattached to asleeve i-at opposite sides thereof, the sleeve forming:part of the hinges. Sleeve l is positioned so that-its axis isperpendicular to the pl'aneof the shank.

An arcuate brace rod t extends between the arms at their widest point ofseparation.

The holding member 2 comprises asheetmetal plate 9,.bounded on itsbottom and sides by a U-shaped rod it, the endsof the-rod extendingbeyond the plate and being pointed, as at'l l ,-formingbottom-penetrating means. 'Rod 10 passes through sleeve 7 and forms thepintle of the hinge connection between the shank and holding member."Plate 9 is notchedon its lcott'cin'i'edge to provide an opening toaccommodate sleeve Land has its side edges perpendicular to the base.From the top of the side edges, the plate inclines downwardly'tow'ardthe center, forming'tap'e'ring entering edges l 2exten'din'g irom the-points i l. The central portion of theleadin'gedge-is r'ecesseddownwardly a majorfdistance int'o theplate, asat wardly and the recessextending to a point slow the bracerod 8-01" the shank. 'This r'eces's pE3, the Side edges of the recess converging {downits a greater arcofswing for the plate sothat tlie the arms 5 and s of-theshank, the recessidling-the arm 5 or'fi as the-pla'te swings, {Elie "to theinclineof theentering edges 'IZand 'th'etapering recess l3, plate 9 has-it'sbottomeng'agingsiirfaces of gradually increasing width from the bottompenetrating edge to a point near the hinge end. As greater strains causethe holding member to penetrate farther into the bottom, greater surfaceis provided to withstand the greater strain.

Wings M are positioned at the lower corners of the holding member andextend inwardly diagonally of the plate 9. Wings 14 are wedgeshape, withthe narrowest portion of the wedge projecting toward the leading edge ofthe holding member. These wings are arranged in pairs with a pair beingpositioned at each of the lower corners, the plane of the wings beingperpendicular to the plane of the holding member and the wings of a pairextending from opposite sides of the holding member. This arrangementprovides inclined edges l5 rising from the plane of the holding member,with the planes of the wings on a common side of the holding memberdiverging toward the trailing edge of the holding member.

In operation, the anchor'is dropped from the 3 boat or ship and fallsdownward through the water until it strikes bottom. The wings M incontacting the bottom will cause the anchor to fall on one side or theother with the shank hanging from the anchor cable, and the holdingmember swung downward about its pivotal connection with the shank untilthe points ll contact the bottom. If the bottom is soft mud or sand,wings III will embed themselves, and if the bottom is shale the wingswill rest upon the bottom causing the holding member to assume an anglewith points I I inclined downwardly. Movement of the boat will cause theanchor to drag along the bottom, and if the bottom is shale, thedownwardly directed points I I will penetrate the bottom at an angle. Ifthe bottom is soft and the wings are embedded, the dragging of theanchor will cause the wings to ride upwardly due to the cam-like edgesl5 and the divergent positioning of the wings. As the wings lift therear edge of the holding member, the forward edge with its points IIwill be inclined downwardly substantially as indicated in Figure 1. Itwill be noted that the angle of penetration is such that the fiatsurface of the holding member plate 9 is presented to oppose the pull.It will also be noted that the greater the pull the deeper thepenetration. Due to the tapering bifurcated shape of the leading portionof the holding member substantially increasing areas of the plate arepresented to withstand the pull as penetration increases. This is incontradistinction to the principle of usual types of anchor.

In Figures 4 to 6 inclusive, a slightly modified form of anchor isshown. The sole difference between this form and that shown in Figures 1to 3 is in the position and operation of the holding plate wings. As thestructures are identical with the exception of the wings, the samereference characters have been used on identical parts;

In the modified form of the invention, the wings iii are substantiallyin the form of triangles with truncated base angles, the plane of thetriangles being at right angles to the plane of the holding member, andthe bases of the triangles being disposed outwardly. In this case thewings l6 are mounted on the base of the holding member and extendoutwardly in the plane of the base.

This form of the invention operates a bit differently from the anchorshown in the first form. Wings I6 have no cam action, but do cause theholding member to assume a downwardly inclined position so that thepoints II will penetrate the 4 bottom. When this anchor strikes bottom,the wings will cause it to fall on its side as before, and the wingswill then serve to retard the forward drag of the anchor, thus causingthe holding member to tilt, forcing the points into bottompenetratingposition. Thus it will be seen that in both instances the wings functionto, first, cause the anchor to tilt on its side, and second, to forcethe holding member into an inclined bottom-penetrating position.

Although preferred and practical embodiments of the invention have beendisclosed herein, it is to be understood that the invention may takeother forms within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: v

1. In an anchor including a shank and bottomengaging member hingedlyconnected, said bottom-engaging member comprising a U-shaped framehaving its base hinged to the shank and its upstanding arms parallel toeach other and to the plane of the shank, and a filler of sheet metalbetween the arms of the U-frame from the open end of the U to the base,said filler being notched from its edge bridging the open end of theU-frame toward the base, the sides of said notch converging toward thebase to form twin flukes tapering from points at the open end of theU-frame to substantial width near the base.

2. In an anchor as claimed in claim 1, fluketilting wings projectingperpendicularly from each side of each fluke, said wings emanating fromthe base corners of said U-frame.

3. In an anchor as claimed in claim 1, fluketilting wings projectingperpendicularly from each side of each fluke, and the planes of thewings of the two flukes converging toward each other from the basecorners of the U-frame.

PAUL E. FEARN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 697,300 Watson Apr. 18, 19022,282,566 Danforth May 12, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date150,571 Germany Apr. 19, 1904

